The Canadian government has agreed to pay C$13 billion ($9.7 billion) in a package of subsidies over a decade to get car manufacturer Volkswagen to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Toronto, according to reports.
Reuters said the contract was negotiated by Canada’s industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne. Canada will provide annual production subsidies as well as a grant toward the factory’s capital cost, officials reportedly said. The grants effectively match what Volkswagen could have received via the US Inflation Reduction Act if it had located the plant in the US, they added.
The plant will cost some C$7 billion to build, and will have maximum capacity of 90GWh, the report said.
Photo: Battery packs in Volkswagen’s US Battery Engineering Lab